Jeffrey Sachshttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/jeffrey-sachs
en-usTue, 31 Mar 2015 17:29:38 -0400Tue, 31 Mar 2015 17:29:38 -0400The latest news on Jeffrey Sachs from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-path-tosustainable-future-2013-3JEFFREY SACHS: Shale Gas Will Not Provide A Secure Energy Future For The UShttp://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-path-tosustainable-future-2013-3
Thu, 28 Mar 2013 21:00:00 -0400Jeffrey Sachs
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f122d15"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5154ba9069beddc325000001-400-300/jeffrey-sachs-3.jpg" border="0" alt="Jeffrey Sachs" />NEW YORK &ndash; The surest bet on the future of energy is the need for low-carbon energy supplies. Around 80% of the world&rsquo;s primary energy today is carbon based: coal, oil, and gas. We will need to shift to no- or low-carbon energy by mid-century. The big questions are how and when.</span></p>
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f132d15">Low-carbon primary energy means three options: renewable energy, including wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower, and biomass; nuclear energy; and carbon capture and sequestration, which means using fossil fuels to create energy, but trapping the CO2 emissions that result and storing the carbon safely underground.</p>
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f142d15">There are three compelling reasons for the world to make the shift to low-carbon energy. First, higher levels of CO2 are making the world&rsquo;s oceans acidic. If we continue with business as usual, we will end up destroying a vast amount of marine life, severely damaging the food chains on which we rely.</p>
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f152d15">Second, CO2 is dangerously changing the world&rsquo;s climate, even if many Big Oil interests would have us believe otherwise. (So, too, did the tobacco companies spend vast sums on political lobbying and bogus science to deny the links between smoking and lung cancer.)</p>
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f162d15">Third, we face steeply rising prices for fossil fuels, as developing countries&rsquo; growth drives up demand and conventional supplies of coal, oil, and gas are depleted. Sure, we can find more fossil fuels, but at much higher cost and at much greater environmental risk from industrial spills, waste products, leaks, and other damage.</p>
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f172d15">Even the much-heralded shale-gas revolution is a lot of hype &ndash;&nbsp;similar to the gold rushes and stock bubbles of the past. Shale-gas wells deplete far more rapidly than conventional fields do. And they are environmentally dirty to boot.</p>
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f182d15">The United States has developed many new low-carbon energy technologies, but other countries are currently far more intent, far-sighted, and decisive than the US to put these technologies to large-scale use. Politically, America is still the land of Big Oil. Americans are bombarded by industry-funded media downplaying climate change, while countries that are much poorer in fossil fuels are already making the necessary transition to a low-carbon future.</p>
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f192d15">Two neighbors in Europe, Germany and France, are showing the way forward &ndash; or, more precisely, the alternative ways forward &ndash; to a low-carbon future. They are going about it in ways that reflect their different resource endowments, industrial histories, and political pressures.</p>
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f1a2d15">Germany is undertaking the&nbsp;<em>Energiewende</em>, or transition to sustainable energy &ndash; a remarkable effort (indeed, unprecedented for a large advanced economy) to meet the country&rsquo;s entire energy demand with renewable energy, especially solar and wind power. Meanwhile, France relies heavily on low-carbon nuclear power, and is switching rapidly to electric vehicles, such as the pioneering Renault-Nissan Leaf.</p>
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f1b2d15">Of the two approaches, Germany&rsquo;s is the more unusual bet. After Japan&rsquo;s nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Germany decided to shut down its entire nuclear power industry and shift entirely to a strategy based on greater energy efficiency (lower energy input per unit of national income) and renewables. There really is no clear roadmap for such a huge energy transformation, and Germany almost surely will need to rely on a European-wide electricity grid to share clean energy, and eventually on imported solar power from North Africa and the Middle East.</p>
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f1c2d15">France&rsquo;s bet on nuclear power is a more proven option. After all, most of France&rsquo;s electricity has come from nuclear power for many years. And, though anti-nuclear sentiment is very strong in Europe &ndash; and, increasingly, even in France &ndash; nuclear power will remain part of the global energy mix for decades to come, simply because much of Asia (including China, India, South Korea, and Japan) will remain major users of it.</p>
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f1d2d15">The key point is that France and Germany, and many other European countries &ndash; including the Scandinavian countries, with their considerable wind and hydropower potential &ndash; are all recognizing that the world as a whole will have to move away from a fossil-fuel-based energy system. That is the right calculation.</p>
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f1e2d15">Many will no doubt argue about which alternative &ndash; France&rsquo;s bet on nuclear power or Germany&rsquo;s solar pathway &ndash; is wiser. But both strategies are probably correct. Most studies show that deep de-carbonization of the world economy from now to mid-century, a time horizon mandated by environmental realities, will require that&nbsp;<em>all</em>&nbsp;low-carbon options &ndash; including greater efficiency and renewables &ndash;&nbsp;be scaled up massively.</p>
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f1f2d15">One of the highest priorities of the new&nbsp;<a href="http://unsdsn.org/" target="_blank">Sustainable Development Solutions Network</a>, which I direct on behalf of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, will be to elaborate alternative pathways to a low-carbon economy, taking into account the specific conditions of countries around the world. Different countries will choose different strategies, but we will all need to get to the same place: a new energy system built on low-carbon sources, electrification of vehicles, and smart, energy-efficient buildings and cities.</p>
<p data-line-id="dc0a2f0346f86f000f202d15">Early movers may pay a slightly higher price today for these strategies, but they and the world will reap long-term economic and environmental benefits. By embracing truly sustainable technologies, France, Germany, and others are creating the energy system that will increasingly support the world economy throughout this century.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-path-tosustainable-future-2013-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-heres-the-one-thing-that-needs-to-happen-for-the-eurozone-to-save-itself-2012-5Jeffrey Sachs: Before Anything Else, Europe Needs To Fix This One Problem Immediatelyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-heres-the-one-thing-that-needs-to-happen-for-the-eurozone-to-save-itself-2012-5
Mon, 21 May 2012 10:48:36 -0400Mamta Badkar
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/4fba4f27eab8ea8e31000009-400-300/eurozone-graffiti.jpg" border="0" alt="eurozone, graffiti" width="400" height="300" /></p><p>While headlines in Europe are centered on a Greek exit from Europe, and the looming fiscal crisis, economist Jeffrey Sachs says Europe's banking sector is the real imminent problem.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://blogs.ft.com/the-a-list/2012/05/21/to-save-the-eurozone-save-the-banks/#axzz1vVG0RTJN">Financial Times editorial, Sachs</a> writes that in order to save itself, the eurozone needs to fight an ongoing collapse in its banking sector. He says the fiscal crisis can only be addressed after the region's banking sector issues have been resolved:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"<strong>The Greek economy is collapsing not mainly from fiscal austerity or the lack of external competitiveness but from the chronic lack of working capital</strong>. Greece&rsquo;s small and medium-sized enterprises can no longer obtain funding. Since 2010, Greece has been trying to stabilize a sophisticated modern economy while its banking sector is shrinking dramatically. It just doesn&rsquo;t work. The shutdown of Greece&rsquo;s banking sector brings to mind the dramatic shrinkage of bank lending during 1929-33 in the Great Depression.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Europe&rsquo;s banking squeeze extends beyond Greece. Overnight deposits have declined since mid-2010 in the banking sectors of several other eurozone countries, including Ireland, Portugal, and Spain. In response, bank lending in those economies has also been cut, causing the current double-dip recession. And the reduction of bank loans could easily intensify if eurozone banks now try to raise their capital-asset ratios by cutting lending rather than by raising fresh capital.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">There is still no evidence that European authorities, and notably German politicians, recognize the priority of rescuing the eurozone banks, and especially the banks in Greece and other weak economies. The European Banking Authority is tightening capital adequacy standards without paying enough attention to the ensuing steep credit squeeze. The focus on budget cutting in these circumstances is not only misguided but tragically inapt. Governments cannot close their budget deficits if payroll taxation is plummeting because payrolls themselves are being deeply squeezed."</p>
<p>He says for the eurozone to survive, the economic and monetary union needs to 1) re-establish working capital 2) re-capitalize the banks 3) push the ECB to be a lender of last resort for its banking sector.</p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.ft.com/the-a-list/2012/05/21/to-save-the-eurozone-save-the-banks/#axzz1vVG0RTJN"><strong>Read the entire piece at Financial Times &gt;</strong></a></p>
<h3><strong>Don't Miss: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-what-happens-if-greece-exits-the-euro-2012-5">This Is What Happens If Greece Exits The Euro &gt;</a></strong></h3><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-heres-the-one-thing-that-needs-to-happen-for-the-eurozone-to-save-itself-2012-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-paul-krugman-larry-summers-and-german-officials-are-all-oversimplifying-2012-4JEFFREY SACHS: Krugman, Summers And German Officials Are All 'Oversimplifying'http://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-paul-krugman-larry-summers-and-german-officials-are-all-oversimplifying-2012-4
Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:54:00 -0400Mamta Badkar
<p>As Europe continues to struggle in the third year of its debt crisis, Jeffrey Sachs, professor at <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/columbia">Columbia University</a> says Europe's problems stem from its banking sector.</p>
<p>In an interview with <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/bloomberg">Bloomberg</a> TV Sachs said current responses to Europe's crisis have been too simple. He first took a <strong>pot shot at economist Larry Summers</strong>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Larry Summers today says choose growth not austerity, as if growth is a choice not an outcome, it's just making it all too simple in my view to say all we have to do is raise larger budget deficits and things will be fine."</p>
<p>He then said <strong>German policymakers were operating with "blinders on"</strong> and that the one-track austerity path has failed and isn't good enough for Europe. Talking about the austerity protests in Europe he said:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"It's a complaint against the oversimplification of policy but not with&nbsp; clear alternative direction that I think is the reality right now. Which is, what Germany has been saying isn't so clever, isn't working well, isn't integrating finance, money and fiscal policy and you need something a little more complicated unfortunately."</p>
<p>Finally, when asked if he agreed with <strong>Paul Krugman's criticism of zombie economics</strong> in Europe he said:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Although I think Paul is also oversimplifying because he just likes big budget deficits and for Paul there's never enough fiscal stimulus, and he says don't worry about the debt as if you can just turn your back on it. So I think that's another case of just trying to sell the easy way out, that sure there's a solution, stop worrying about the deficit, stop worrying about the debt. I don't buy that."</p>
<p>Sachs said European policy needs to address the problems with its banking sector and financial sector, and while Europe should worry about deficit and debt, he would like to see more tax increases and less spending cuts."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/video/91666261/"><strong>Watch the entire interview at Bloomberg TV</strong></a>:</p>
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<h3>Don't Miss: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nomura-global-economic-outlook-2012-2012-4">Nomura - This Is Where The World Is Heading In 2012 &amp; 2013 &gt;</a></h3><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-paul-krugman-larry-summers-and-german-officials-are-all-oversimplifying-2012-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/rise-of-brics-made-it-impossible-for-any-country-to-assume-leadership-2012-4The BRICS Have Made It Impossible For Any One Country To Be A Global Leaderhttp://www.businessinsider.com/rise-of-brics-made-it-impossible-for-any-country-to-assume-leadership-2012-4
Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:35:47 -0400Jeffrey Sachs
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">The annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the <a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/world-bank">World Bank</a> have provided a window onto two fundamental trends driving global politics and the world economy. Geopolitics is moving decisively away from a world dominated by Europe and the United States to one with many regional powers but no global leader. And a new era of economic instability is at hand, owing as much to physical limits to growth as to financial turmoil.</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">Europe&rsquo;s economic crisis dominated this year&rsquo;s IMF/World Bank meetings. The Fund is seeking to create an emergency rescue mechanism in case the weak European economies need another financial bailout, and has turned to major emerging economies &ndash; Brazil, China, India, the Gulf oil exporters, and others &ndash; to help provide the necessary resources. Their answer is clear: yes, but only in exchange for more power and votes at the IMF. As Europe wants an international financial backstop, it will have to agree.&nbsp;</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">Of course, the emerging economies&rsquo; demand for more power is a well-known story. In 2010, when the IMF last increased its financial resources, the emerging economies agreed to the deal only if their voting share within the IMF was increased by around 6%, with Europe losing around 4%. Now emerging markets are demanding an even greater share of power.</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">The underlying reason is not difficult to see. According to the IMF&rsquo;s own data, the European Union&rsquo;s current members accounted for 31% of the world economy in 1980 (measured by each country&rsquo;s GDP, adjusted for purchasing power). By 2011, the EU share slid to 20%, and the Fund projects that it will decline further, to 17%, by 2017.</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">This decline reflects Europe&rsquo;s slow growth in terms of both population and output per person. On the other side of the ledger, the global GDP share of the Asian developing countries, including China and India, has soared, from around 8% in 1980 to 25% in 2011, and is expected to reach 31% by 2017.</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">The US, characteristically these days, insists that it will not join any new IMF bailout fund. The US Congress has increasingly embraced isolationist economic policies, especially regarding financial help for others. This, too, reflects the long-term wane of US power. The US share of global GDP, around 25% in 1980, declined to 19% in 2011, and is expected to slip to 18% in 2017, by which point the IMF expects that China will have overtaken the US economy in absolute size (adjusted for purchasing power).</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">But the shift of global power is more complicated than the decline of the North Atlantic (EU and US) and the rise of the emerging economies, especially the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). We are also shifting from a unipolar world, led mainly by the US, to a truly multi-polar world, in which the US, the EU, the BRICS, and smaller powers (such as Nigeria and Turkey) carry regional weight but are reticent to assume global leadership, especially its financial burdens. The issue is not just that there are five or six major powers now; it is also that all of them want a free ride at the others&rsquo; expense.</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">The shift to such a multi-polar world has the advantage that no single country or small bloc can dominate the others. Each region can end up with room for maneuver and some space to find its own path. Yet a multi-polar world also carries great risks, notably that major global challenges will go unmet, because no single country or region is able or willing to coordinate a global response, or even to participate in one.</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">The US has shifted rapidly from global leadership to that kind of free riding, seeming to bypass the stage of global cooperation. Thus, the US currently excuses itself from global cooperation on climate change, IMF financial-bailout packages, global development-assistance targets, and other aspects of international collaboration in the provision of global public goods.</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">The weaknesses of global policy cooperation are especially worrisome in view of the gravity of the challenges that must be met. Of course, the ongoing global financial turmoil comes to mind immediately, but other challenges are even more significant.</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300"><a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/indeed">Indeed</a>, the IMF/World Bank meetings also grappled with a second fundamental change in the world economy: high and volatile primary commodity prices are now a major threat to global economic stability and growth.</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">Since around 2005, the prices of most major commodities have soared. Prices for oil, coal, copper, gold, wheat, maize, iron ore, and many other commodities have doubled, tripled, or risen even more. Fuels, food grains, and minerals have all been affected.&nbsp; Some have attributed the rise to bubbles in commodities prices, owing to low interest rates and easy access to credit for commodity speculation. Yet the most compelling explanation is almost certainly more fundamental.</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">Growing world demand for primary commodities, especially in China, is pushing hard against the physical supplies of global resources. Yes, more oil or copper can be produced, but only at much higher marginal production costs.</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">But the problem goes beyond supply constraints. Global economic growth is also causing a burgeoning environmental crisis. Food prices are high today partly because food-growing regions around the world are experiencing the adverse effects of human-induced climate change (such as more droughts and extreme storms), and of water scarcity caused by excessive use of freshwater from rivers and aquifers.</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">In short, the global economy is experiencing a sustainability crisis, in which resource constraints and environmental pressures are causing large price shocks and ecological instability. Economic development rapidly needs to become sustainable development, by adopting technologies and lifestyles that reduce the dangerous pressures on the Earth&rsquo;s ecosystems. This, too, will require a level of global cooperation that remains nowhere to be seen.</p>
<p data-line-id="1a7ddd02f863878411c66300">The IMF/World Bank meetings remind us of an overarching truth: our highly interconnected and crowded world has become a highly complicated vessel. If we are to move forward, we must start pulling in the same direction, even without a single captain at the helm.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rise-of-brics-made-it-impossible-for-any-country-to-assume-leadership-2012-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-the-world-bank-is-a-development-institution-2012-4Jeffrey Sachs: The World Bank Doesn't Need Another Banker http://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-the-world-bank-is-a-development-institution-2012-4
Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:33:00 -0400Mamta Badkar
<p>The race for the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/world-bank" class="hidden_link">World Bank</a> presidency is on as president <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/robert-zoellick" class="hidden_link">Robert Zoellick</a>, is expected to step down April 20. Jeffrey Sachs, American economist and director of the Earth Institute at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/columbia" class="hidden_link">Columbia University</a>, had put himself forward as a possible candidate but withdrew his name when <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/world-bank-jim-yong-kim-poverty-2012-3">President Obama nominated Dr Jim Yong Kim</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/video/2012/apr/12/jeffrey-sachs-world-bank-video?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3486">Sachs told The Guardian</a> that he put his name forward because the World Bank had so far been run by bankers and CEOs - case in point Zoellick who was a former managing director at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/goldman-sachs" class="hidden_link">Goldman Sachs</a>. He added that it is important to remember that the World Bank isn't a bank but a development institution and that it needs the right kind of leadership:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"We've had 11 world bank presidents, they've all been American, but more than that all 11 have been bankers or political insiders and this is no good. Because the world bank is basically not a bank it's a development institution and it needs professional leadership. It needs the leadership of someone who leads in the fight against poverty, hunger and disease. And the list that was then circulating was not that kind of list, it was more bankers or corporate CEOs or political insiders and I felt that that just was getting more and more inappropriate, so I put my name forward and many governments around the world came out in support of me and nominated me formally so I was part of the running.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">But it was an ideal nomination from my point of view. What president Obama said in nominating Dr. Kim was that it's time the world's leading development institution be headed by a development leader and I said exactly right. "</p>
<p><strong>Watch the entire interview at <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/video/2012/apr/12/jeffrey-sachs-interview-video">The Guardian</a>:</strong></p>
<p><object width="460" height="370"><param name="movie" value="http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/embed" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="flashvars" value="endpoint=http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/video/2012/apr/12/jeffrey-sachs-interview-video/json" /><embed src="http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/embed" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="endpoint=http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/video/2012/apr/12/jeffrey-sachs-interview-video/json" height="370" width="460" /> </object></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-the-world-bank-is-a-development-institution-2012-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/world-happiness-report-2012-4Everything You Need To Know About Happiness In The Worldhttp://www.businessinsider.com/world-happiness-report-2012-4
Sun, 08 Apr 2012 12:52:00 -0400Mamta Badkar
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/4f7e0535eab8ea2802000008-401-301/footloose-kevin-bacon.jpg" border="0" alt="footloose, kevin bacon" width="401" height="301" /></p><p>Unemployment can cause as much unhappiness as bereavement or separation, according to the <a href="http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2960">World Happiness Report</a>, published by Columbia University's Earth Institute and co-edited by Nobel laureate Jeffrey Sachs.</p>
<p>The report found that the happiest countries in the world are all in Northern Europe with Denmark topping the list.</p>
<p>Meanwhile the least happy countries are in the poor regions of sub-Saharan Africa.</p>
<p>The report looks at how happiness is measured and examines some of its policy implications. We read through the groundbreaking report and pulled the most interesting findings about happiness.</p><h3>The happiest countries in the world are all in Northern Europe</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/4eb1a8d76bb3f78b41000028-400-300/the-happiest-countries-in-the-world-are-all-in-northern-europe.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>The happiest countries in the world namely Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Netherlands are all in Northern Europe. Their average life evaluation score is 7.6 on a scale from 0 to 10.</p>
<p><em>Source: <a href="http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2960">The Earth Institute, Columbia University</a></em></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>The least happy countries are all poor countries in Sub-Saharan Africa</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4f7db3906bb3f73541000011-400-300/the-least-happy-countries-are-all-poor-countries-in-sub-saharan-africa.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>The least happy countries are all poor countries in Sub-Saharan Africa namely Togo, Benin, Central African Republic, and Sierra Leone with average life evaluation scores of 3.4.</p>
<p><em>Source: <a href="http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2960">The Earth Institute, Columbia University</a></em></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>But happiness is measured by more than money. Community, religion, and health play big roles.</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/4caf8b7f7f8b9aa571e00000-400-300/but-happiness-is-measured-by-more-than-money-community-religion-and-health-play-big-roles.jpg" alt="" />
<p><ul>
<li>The key <strong>external factors</strong> that determine happiness include income, work, community and governance, and values and religion.</li>
<li>The <strong>personal features</strong> that determine happiness include mental health, physical health, family experience, education, and gender and age.</li>
<li>Sometime there is a <strong>two-way interaction between the determinant and happiness itself</strong>. For instance health affects happiness and conversely happiness affects health.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Source: <a href="http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2960">The Earth Institute, Columbia University</a></em></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/world-happiness-report-2012-4#of-course-income-is-always-a-factor-in-explaining-happiness-but-it-isnt-the-most-important-thing-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/children-household-life-satisfaction-2012-4Children Won't Make You Happierhttp://www.businessinsider.com/children-household-life-satisfaction-2012-4
Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:20:00 -0400Mamta Badkar
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/4f7ddc4c69beddc703000030-400-300/problem-child.jpg" border="0" alt="problem child" width="400" height="300" /></p><p>People have long debated whether children affect life satisfaction and happiness. Now, the <a href="http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2960">World Happiness Report </a>published by The Earth Institute of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/columbia" class="hidden_link">Columbia University</a> answers the question, 'Do children make their parents happy?'</p>
<p>And the answer: <strong>"Surprisingly, the presence of children in the household appears not to be associated with higher life satisfaction."</strong></p>
<p>The report was edited by John Helliwll, Richard Layard, and Jeffrey Sachs.</p>
<p>The report draws on the World Values Survey and panel data of U.K and Germany. And says several surveys of the issue acknowledge the absence of such a correlation. In particular, the report says <strong>single parents with more children are less happy than those with fewer children</strong>.</p>
<p>Most obviously, parents can be overwhelmed by the responsibilities and time pressures of childcare. In terms of net positive feelings, childcare ranks as low as the 16th spot in the hierarchy of daily activities out of a total of 19.</p>
<p>Age also plays a huge role in the happiness associated with having children. Young children under the age of three and teenagers are associated with a lower level of parents' happiness, while children aged 3 - 12 are associated with higher happiness. The study does however acknowledge that the "effect of adult children has not yet been systematically investigated".</p>
<p>The study also found that richer people are on average happier with being parents, and that parenthood is less problematic in the social democratic countries of Northern Europe where the states offers more child-support.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, having children is no guarantee of more happiness. This depends on the age of the child, the quality of the parenting couple and on the socio-economic background of the parents.</p>
<p><em>Correction: A previous version of this article erroneously stated that Jeffrey Sachs was a Nobel Laureate.</em> </p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/children-household-life-satisfaction-2012-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/hugh-hendrys-greatest-hits-2012-3And Now Presenting Hugh Hendry’s ‘Greatest Hits’http://www.businessinsider.com/hugh-hendrys-greatest-hits-2012-3
Sun, 25 Mar 2012 13:00:00 -0400Global Macro Monitor
<p>Now for some weekend entertainment.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.eclectica-am.com/template.aspx?target=home" target="_blank">Hugh Hendry</a> is one of our favorite hedge fund managers and OSD &mdash; one smart dude.&nbsp; Watch how H-squared gives facials to the academics in the video, especially Jeffrey Sachs.&nbsp; Stiglitz was soooo wrong on Greece!</p>
<p>Even you don&rsquo;t like the guy or disagree with his market views, you must concede he&rsquo;s not afraid to speak his mind without pulling punches.</p>
<p>We think the source of the video is <a href="http://www.polycapitalist.com/2011/01/inside-hedge-fund-manager-hugh-hendrys.html" target="_blank">ThePolyCapitalist.com </a></p>
<p><iframe width="420" height="315" frameborder="0" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-DN_eZHxa8Q"></iframe></p>
<p><strong>Read more posts on <a href="http://macromon.wordpress.com/">Global Macro Monitor &raquo;</a></strong></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hugh-hendrys-greatest-hits-2012-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-world-bank-needs-a-leader-who-will-actually-focus-on-economic-development-2012-2The World Bank Needs A Leader Who Will Actually Focus On Economic Developmenthttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-world-bank-needs-a-leader-who-will-actually-focus-on-economic-development-2012-2
Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:22:00 -0500Jeffrey Sachs
<p>The world is at a crossroads. Either the global community will join together to fight poverty, resource depletion, and climate change, or it will face a generation of resource wars, political instability, and environmental ruin.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/world-bank" class="hidden_link">World Bank</a>, if properly led, can play a key role in averting these threats and the risks that they imply. The global stakes are thus very high this spring as the Bank&rsquo;s 187 member countries choose a new president to succeed <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/robert-zoellick" class="hidden_link">Robert Zoellick</a>, whose term ends in July.</p>
<p>The World Bank was established in 1944 to promote economic development, and virtually every country is now a member. Its central mission is to reduce global poverty and ensure that global development is environmentally sound and socially inclusive. Achieving these goals would not only improve the lives of billions of people, but would also forestall violent conflicts that are stoked by poverty, famine, and struggles over scarce resources.</p>
<p>American officials have traditionally viewed the World Bank as an extension of United States foreign policy and commercial interests. With the Bank just two blocks away from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, it has been all too easy for the US to dominate the institution. Now many members, including Brazil, China, India, and several African countries, are raising their voices in support of more collegial leadership and an improved strategy that works for all.</p>
<p>From the Bank&rsquo;s establishment until today, the unwritten rule has been that the US government simply designates each new president: all 11 have been Americans, and not a single one has been an expert in economic development, the Bank&rsquo;s core responsibility, or had a career in fighting poverty or promoting environmental sustainability. Instead, the US has selected Wall Street bankers and politicians, presumably to ensure that the Bank&rsquo;s policies are suitably friendly to US commercial and political interests.</p>
<p>Yet the policy is backfiring on the US and badly hurting the world. Because of a long-standing lack of strategic expertise at the top, the Bank has lacked a clear direction. Many projects have catered to US corporate interests rather than to sustainable development. The Bank has cut a lot of ribbons on development projects, but has solved far too few global problems.</p>
<p>For too long, the Bank&rsquo;s leadership has imposed US concepts that are often utterly inappropriate for the poorest countries and their poorest people. For example, the Bank completely fumbled the exploding pandemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria during the 1990&rsquo;s, failing to get help to where it was needed to curb these outbreaks and save millions of lives.</p>
<p>Even worse, the Bank advocated user fees and &ldquo;cost recovery&rdquo; for health services, thereby putting life-saving health care beyond the reach of the poorest of the poor &ndash; precisely those most in need of it. In 2000, at the Durban AIDS Summit, I recommended a new &ldquo;Global Fund&rdquo; to fight these diseases, precisely on the grounds that the World Bank was not doing its job. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria emerged, and has since saved millions of lives, with malaria deaths in Africa alone falling by at least 30%.</p>
<p>The Bank similarly missed crucial opportunities to support smallholder subsistence farmers and to promote integrated rural development more generally in impoverished rural communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. For around 20 years, roughly from 1985 to 2005, the Bank resisted the well-proven use of targeted support for small landholders to enable impoverished subsistence farmers to improve yields and break out of poverty. More recently, the Bank has increased its support for smallholders, but there is still far more that it can and should do.</p>
<p>The Bank&rsquo;s staff is highly professional, and would accomplish much more if freed from the dominance of narrow US interests and viewpoints. The Bank has the potential to be a catalyst of progress in key areas that will shape the world&rsquo;s future. Its priorities should include agricultural productivity; mobilization of information technologies for sustainable development; deployment of low-carbon energy systems; and quality education for all, with greater reliance on new forms of communication to reach hundreds of millions of under-served students.</p>
<p>The Bank&rsquo;s activities currently touch on all of these areas, but it fails to lead effectively on any of them. Despite the excellence of its staff, the Bank has not been strategic or agile enough to be an effective agent of change. Getting the Bank&rsquo;s role right will be hard work, requiring expertise at the top.</p>
<p>Most importantly, the Bank&rsquo;s new president should have first-hand professional experience regarding the range of pressing development challenges. The world should not accept the&nbsp;<em>status quo</em>. A World Bank leader who once again comes from Wall Street or from US politics would be a heavy blow for a planet in need of creative solutions to complex development challenges. The Bank needs an accomplished professional who is ready to tackle the great challenges of sustainable development from day one.&nbsp;</p>
<p><em><a href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/sachs187/English">This post</a> originally appeared at <a href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/">Project Syndicate.</a>&nbsp;</em></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-world-bank-needs-a-leader-who-will-actually-focus-on-economic-development-2012-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-why-jeffrey-sachs-thinks-ghanas-future-is-bright-2012-1Here's Why Jeffrey Sachs Thinks Ghana's Future Is Brighthttp://www.businessinsider.com/heres-why-jeffrey-sachs-thinks-ghanas-future-is-bright-2012-1
Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:03:36 -0500Clair MacDougall
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/4bb9e0457f8b9a3935120300/jeffrey-sachs.jpg" border="0" alt="Jeffrey Sachs" /></p><p>As the small West African nation of <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Ghana" target="_self" class="inform_link">Ghana</a> heads into an election year, fierce debate on whether the government of <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/John+Mills" target="_self" class="inform_link">President John Mills</a> has delivered on its developmental goals and promises are already raging. But one of the world&rsquo;s most prominent development economists says Ghana is proving to be one of the strongest performers on the <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Millennium+Development+Goals" target="_self" class="inform_link">Millennium Development Goals</a> (MDGs) in <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Africa" target="_self" class="inform_link">Africa</a> and unlike some of its African counterparts is likely to fulfill them by the 2015 deadline.</p>
<p>Professor <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Jeffrey+Sachs" target="_self" class="inform_link">Jeffrey Sachs</a>, director of the <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/The+Earth+Institute+at+Columbia+University" target="_self" class="inform_link">Earth Institute at Columbia University</a>, visited Ghana on a recent tour to examine poverty reduction strategies and progress on the MDGs within Ghana, <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Mali" target="_self" class="inform_link">Mali</a>, and <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Nigeria" target="_self" class="inform_link">Nigeria</a>.</p>
<p>Sachs was the former director of the <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/United+Nations" target="_self" class="inform_link">United Nations</a> Millennium Project and played a major role in developing the eight MDGs that set forth a new set of development criteria for countries to work toward achieving by 2015. The final goals include the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, the reduction of child mortality, universal primary education, gender equality and women&rsquo;s empowerment, the improvement of maternal health, the combating of HIV/AIDs, malaria and other diseases, and environmental sustainability.</p>
<div class="promotion-tag">
<p class="promotion-tag-p"><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2011/0127/Think-you-know-Africa-Take-our-geography-quiz" target="_blank"><strong>RELATED:</strong> Think you know Africa? Take our geography quiz</a></p>
</div>
<p>&ldquo;Ghana is on track to achieve most, if not all, of the Millennium Development Goals,&rdquo; Sachs told The Christian Science Monitor during an interview in <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Accra" target="_self" class="inform_link">Accra</a>. &ldquo;It is one of the strongest performers in Africa on the MDGs because it has been investing for a long time in health and education, gender and equality, and it has made a lot of progress. But there are parts of Ghana that are extremely poor and really need a lot of accelerated investments.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>North-south divide still a challenge</strong></p>
<p>Sachs says that Ghana&rsquo;s biggest challenge is ensuring that development is spread evenly across all regions, particularly the arid northern part of the country, which remains desperately poor.</p>
<p>&ldquo;There is a lot of progress in Ghana in certain parts of the country in reducing poverty and improving living standards,&rdquo; says Sachs. &ldquo;But there are other parts of Ghana where there is still a tremendous amount of poverty and a great amount to do, like in the North in particular.&rdquo;</p>
<p>With few job opportunities in the arid and underdeveloped northern region thousands of Ghana&rsquo;s northerners migrate southward in search of work to cities like Accra where they find themselves living in slums such as Agblogloshie and Nima, collecting scrap metal, melting down electronics, or working menial jobs for a few dollars a day.</p>
<p>Sachs will be working with the government of Ghana to help increase the rate of development and levels of investment within the three northern regions.</p>
<p><strong>The figures</strong></p>
<p>Ghana has made economic leaps in the past year due to the commencement of oil production and increasing levels of foreign direct investment. Ghana was one of world&rsquo;s fastest growing economies in 2011 with an annual growth rate of 14 percent and it achieved middle-income status according the <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/The+World+Bank+Group" target="_self" class="inform_link">World Bank</a>. Inflation has been on the decline in the past year and the Ghana Investment and Promotion Council said that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) totaled $4.13 billion in the first three quarters of the 2011, a massive increase from the level of investment in the same quarter in 2010 that was at $216.71 million. According to the Ghana Statistical Services, the services sector contributed 51.4 percent to the annual GDP, more than agriculture that had previously been the most dominant sector in Ghana, the world&rsquo;s second biggest cocoa producer.</p>
<p><strong>Ghanaians complain about lack of benefits&nbsp; <br /></strong></p>
<p>But many Ghanaians say they do not see the development projected by these figures and complain the government has not done enough to create jobs or improve infrastructure and the livelihoods of Ghanaians.</p>
<p>Thomas Onppug, a 45-year-old taxi driver, and father of two who lives in the suburbs of Accra syas that he could only just cover his rent with the money he earns from driving a taxi, owned by another man.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The government [officials] are bad and not performing well,&rdquo; says Mr. Onppug, also a supporter of the opposition <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/National+Patriotic+Party+of+Liberia" target="_self" class="inform_link">National Patriotic Party</a> (NPP). &ldquo;The increase in petrol cost is bad and I am not getting anything,&rdquo; he adds, referring to the government&rsquo;s recent removal of fuel subsidies. &ldquo;The schools are not teaching well and youth unemployment is a problem. There are no jobs and that is why we are all driving taxis.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Onppug says he pays 400 cedis or $237 in rent a month for a small apartment and earns the same amount and is supported by his fianc&eacute;.</p>
<p>Kwabena Agyapong, a 41-year-old father of three and watch seller at an Accra bus station complains about the lack of jobs, the removal of the fuel subsidy, and the increase of utilities.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The government promised a lot of things that it hasn&rsquo;t delivered on, like the reduction of fuel costs and the creation of jobs,&rdquo; says Agyapong. &ldquo;Ghanaians are suffering.&hellip; I haven&rsquo;t seen any improvement and the prices [of food and basic goods] in the market are coming up.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Opposition accuses government of overspending</strong></p>
<p>Positions on economic development in Ghana are often highly politicized. In recent months the NPP has accused the government of overspending, referring in particular to a $3 billion Chinese infrastructure loan passed by parliament in September of last year, part of which is being used to fund a $700 million gas infrastructure project.</p>
<p>But Sachs said that the loan could be a wise decision if infrastructure projects are implemented successfully.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Ghana is taking on a debt like this because it thinks that it can earn a significant rate of return by building out the infrastructure right now,&rdquo; Sachs says. &ldquo;I think that is a good judgment. Often it has been held by the international community and the <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/International+Monetary+Fund" target="_self" class="inform_link">IMF</a>, don&rsquo;t borrow, you have to pay your own way on infrastructure. But if the returns on infrastructure are high enough it really makes sense to borrow and spur the added economic growth and repay the infrastructure financing out of the dividends of the faster economic growth. That is what Ghana is aiming to do."</p>
<p>But, he warns, if the oil wealth is squandered and the investments go bad, "there isn&rsquo;t really going to be another chance.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Economists like Sachs see a positive economic and developmental future for Ghana. But like in other African nations, the distribution of the benefits of economic growth continues to be a concern.</p>
<p>&ldquo;There is a big infrastructure challenge and there is a big social investment challenge and this emphasizes the fact that growth in Africa right now is highly uneven in where it&rsquo;s occurring and which sectors it is occurring,&rdquo; Sachs said. &ldquo;Part of a good development strategy is to ensure that all parts of society have a chance to participate in growth and break free of poverty. It is a huge task but it is a way to think about the challenge Ghana faces.&rdquo;</p>
<p><em><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2012/0111/Africa-Rising-Jeffrey-Sachs-says-Ghana-s-future-looks-bright?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+feeds%2Fworld+%28Christian+Science+Monitor+|+World%29">This post</a> originally appeared at <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/">The Christian Science Monitor</a></em></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-why-jeffrey-sachs-thinks-ghanas-future-is-bright-2012-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/sachs184/EnglishJEFFREY SACHS: Health Care Is About To Get A Lot Cheaperhttp://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/sachs184/English
Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:23:00 -0500Jeffrey Sachs
<p>A famous claim in economics is that the cost of services (such as health care and education) tends to increase relative to the cost of goods (such as food, oil, and machinery).</p>
<p>This seems right: people around the world can barely afford the rising health-care and school-tuition costs they currently face &ndash; costs that seem to increase each year faster than overall inflation.</p>
<p>But a sharp decline in the costs of health care, education, and other services is now possible, thanks to the ongoing information and communications technology (ICT) revolution.</p>
<p>The cost of services compared to the cost of goods depends on productivity. If farmers become much better at growing food while teachers become little better at teaching kids, the cost of food will tend to fall relative to the cost of education. Moreover, the proportion of the population engaged in farming will tend to fall, since fewer farmers are needed to feed the entire country.</p>
<h2><a href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/sachs184/English" target="_blank">Keep reading 'Services without Tears' at Project Syndicate &gt;</a></h2>
<p><em>This <a href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/sachs184/English" target="_blank">post</a> originally appeared at <a href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/" target="_blank">Project Syndicate</a>.</em></p><p><a href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/sachs184/English#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-says-obama-never-had-a-plan-for-the-economy-2011-8Jeffrey Sachs: The President Shouldn't Be On Vacation While The Markets Are In "Deep Crisis," Says Obama Never Had A Plan For The Economyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-says-obama-never-had-a-plan-for-the-economy-2011-8
Fri, 19 Aug 2011 12:49:00 -0400Zeke Miller
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/4bb9e0457f8b9a3935120300/jeffrey-sachs.jpg" border="0" alt="Jeffrey Sachs" /></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/columbia" class="hidden_link">Columbia University</a> economist Jeffrey Sachs criticized President Barack Obama for taking a vacation to Martha's Vineyard this week as the global markets are in turmoil.</p>
<p>"So we&rsquo;re almost three years into this administration and there&rsquo;s never been a plan and that&rsquo;s what everybody feels," Sachs said on MSNBC's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/morning-joe" class="hidden_link">Morning Joe</a> today. "The president didn&rsquo;t lead. He waited."</p>
<p>Sachs said he though Obama's decision to go on vacation was "pretty odd," adding, "I wouldn&rsquo;t care about such things, but the world markets are in deep crisis. It&rsquo;s no joke, this isn&rsquo;t just an August up and down little blip, this is a very serious situation."</p>
<p>The statements, from the liberal-leaning economist who backed Obama in 2008, were quickly picked up by the Republican National Committee as a 'we told you so' moment.</p>
<p>More from Sachs:</p>
<p>"So we&rsquo;re almost three years into this administration and there&rsquo;s never been a plan and that&rsquo;s what everybody feels. The president didn&rsquo;t lead. He waited.&nbsp;The quintessential image sadly of the administration that I supported and hoped for much better is the president waiting by the phone to hear what Congress calls to tell him. It doesn&rsquo;t work in this country that way, it&rsquo;s not a matter that it&rsquo;s August, it&rsquo;s a matter that it&rsquo;s August 2011. So we&rsquo;ve been drifting for a very long time and we&rsquo;ve been drifting down now. And we had a short term plan that failed. A short term stimulus that was supposed to get the economy back on track but it failed. And now we have nothing behind it. And we have no agreements and no leadership and frankly, I do think it&rsquo;s pretty odd the president&rsquo;s on vacation right now. Normally, I wouldn&rsquo;t care about such things, but the world markets are in deep crisis. It&rsquo;s no joke, this isn&rsquo;t just an August up and down little blip, this is a very serious situation."</p>
<p>Watch the video clip below:</p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="345" frameborder="0" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/D2RCrERF0Wo"></iframe></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-sachs-says-obama-never-had-a-plan-for-the-economy-2011-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p>